Over Christmas break I got to go to an Alamo Drafthouse in Kalamazoo to see Into the Woods. The theater? Remarkably fun! The show? Um . . . well there were some problems with it. Enjoyable, sure, but . . . some problems. Problems that I suspect would not be replicated in this fabulous pared [...]

In a given day I dive through gobs of mail. Boxes of books from publishers for myself, my current co-workers, my former co-workers, this blog, you name it. And since I pay attention to what’s being buzzed, I notice oddities. In this new series I’ll show you some of the more interesting fare. The items [...]

I didn’t really plan it this way, but this week is basically just wall to wall videos of me yammering till the cows come home. Fortunately, in the case of the latest episode of Fuse #8 TV I’m at least joined by the lovely and infinitely talented graphic novelist Victoria Jamieson. In this, the latest [...]

This falls directly into the category of “Me Stuff”. That said, some of you may be aware of the presence of Kidlit TV out there. Just to recap, it’s the closest thing we have right now to an all-children’s literature related blog channel. The brainchild of Julie Gribble with host Rocco Staino and a whole [...]

Cuckoo Song By Frances Hardinge Amulet Books (an imprint of Abrams) $17.95 ISBN: 978-1419714801 Ages 10 and up On shelves May 12, 2015 I was watching the third Hobbit movie the other day (bear with me – I’m going somewhere with this) with no particular pleasure. There are few things in life more painful to [...]

2014 marked a distinct increase in attention spent on children’s books with diverse characters. However, this is not to say that all books with diverse characters got the same amount of attention. Take, for example, Saving Baby Doe by Danette Vigilante. It was one of the only middle grade books in 2014 to sport a [...]

Some me stuff to start us off. NYPL turned its handy dandy little 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2014 list into an interactive bit of gorgeousness. So as to help it along, I wrote a blog post on the library’s website (I have two blogs, if you want to get technical about it, but [...]

This past Saturday I hosted a Children’s Literary Salon at the main branch of NYPL that discussed the topic of middle grade science fiction for children, its history and future. Consisting of a panel of editor Andrew Harwell, author Jason Fry (of the “Jupiter Pirates” series), and librarian Stephanie Whelan (who gave a fantastic encapsulation [...]

Wolfie the Bunny By Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Zachariah OHora Little, Brown and Co. $17.00 ISBN: 978-0-316-22614-1 Ages 3-6 On shelves February 17th Not every child views the imposition of a new sibling as an interloper, but a fair number of them do. They’re just tooling along, enjoying the natural bliss that comes with being [...]

I’m pleased as punch to be premiering the book trailer for Michael Hall’s rather magnificent picture book RED today. The simple tale of a blue crayon labelled with a red wrapper, it’s rather subtle and brilliant. Naturally I wanted to know where Hall got the idea for it in the first place. Here’s his response [...]

It’s a new year but the librarian previews just ah-keep on coming. Generally you’ll read my previews of “The Big Six/Five” (they haven’t really gone down to a proper five yet, but it’s coming). My heart always belongs to the little guys, though. The folks who aren’t necessarily located in NYC. Folks like Chronicle Books, [...]

If I’m going to be honest about it, this is a list I do every year strictly for myself. It sort of helps me get my head in order. Figure out what I liked. What I didn’t. What I reviewed. What I missed. I recommend you make your own sometime. The categories are from the [...]

Babies. They just sorta throw the whole reviewing machine into a tizzy. When I first started blogging I was actually able to do a review a day. That was crazy. Then kiddo #1 was born and that slowed to 2-3 reviews a week. Manageable. This year (2014) kiddo #2 made his debut and now I [...]

Hansel and Gretel By Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti Candlewick $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-935179-62-7 Ages 6 and up When a successful writer of books for adults decides to traipse headlong into the world of children’s literature, the results are too often disastrous. From Donald Barthelme’s self-indulgent Slightly Irregular Fire Engine to the more recent, if [...]

My agent has just found a new home. And since he’s a stellar feller, here are the details of the matter. LITERARY AGENT STEPHEN BARBARA JOINS INKWELL MANAGEMENT After six years at Foundry Literary + Media, literary agent Stephen Barbara will join InkWell Management, effective January 5th, 2015. Barbara, who was instrumental in building Foundry’s books [...]

Podcasty Goodness

About A Fuse #8 Production

Features everything from librarian previews of upcoming children's books to news, reviews, and videos. If it has something to do with children's literature, it will rate a mention here.

Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .